Can Sam Mattis stop throwing like doo-doo and win his second national title?
In 2022, Sam Mattis showed himself to be a legit world-class discus thrower by…
- Making the finals at Worlds
- Finishing fourth at the Diamond League final
- Throwing really far (67.19m) in a place that is not California, Arizona, or Oklahoma (he did it in Croatia)
Those three items make Sam’s resumé unique among the current crop of American male discus throwers, and would have denoted him as the clear favorite at the 2023 Toyota USATF Championships held this week in Eugene had he not fallen into a month-long slump.
“He’s been throwing like beep,” Sam’s coach Dane Miller told me recently. “Probably because of the travel.”
Sam’s success in 2022 got him invited to 2023 comps in places as far afield as Qatar, Morocco, Norway, and Finland and, according to Miller, “Sam is so dialed into his patterns of lifting, sleeping and whatever, that it always takes him a while to get back in a groove after he comes home from overseas.”
Luckily, Sam will have had three solid weeks of stateside training by the time the men’s discus comp kicks off at 3:30pm Pacific on Thursday. Dane says that Sam is once again “slamming it” and looks forward to competing for a spot on the US squad for Worlds.
Prediction: Sam will, in fact, find his mojo and come out on top at the USATF Championships for the first time since 2019.
Will Turner Washington lose his shirt?
The most memorable moment of the recent NCAA track championships came when Arizona State’s Turner Washington launched a 66.22m missile to win the men’s discus comp, ripped off his shirt, and sprinted over to the stands to celebrate in front of some Arkansas fans who had been razzing him throughout the evening.
It was a remarkable comeback for Turner who, discouraged by injury and lack of progress, had retired from throwing a year earlier. Luckily, former shot put great Ryan Whiting took over the ASU throws squad and coaxed Turner back into the sport. Now, if he can reach anywhere close to his NCAA-winning mark, he will secure a spot in Budapest.
I have generously offered to travel to Eugene and trash talk Turner during Thursday’s comp to help fire him up, but I have not yet heard back from Whiting or his representatives. Nor have I received an airline ticket from them.
But I’ll keep checking my inbox.
Prediction: With or without me there slinging insults, Turner will finish in the top three, make his first Worlds team, and celebrate shirtless.
Will throwing fixed-feet fix Brian Williams’ feet?
After hitting 66.14m in 2022, Brian Williams’ best mark so far this season is the 63.54m he threw at the Ironwood Classic last month. He and his coach Ryan Whiting have been working on technical adjustments, and so far they are having more success when Brian stays on the ground as he finishes his throws. This is something that all discus throwers do in training, but most throw farther when they “reverse” or jump on their follow through.
In Brian’s case, he has occasionally reached 65 meters in practice without reversing, only to suffer a loss in distance when he jumps into his finish.
If Sam Mattis and Turner Washington are on their game, they will likely battle for the top two spots at USAs, but after that the field is wide open. Don’t be surprised if Brian goes fixed-feet for at least one or two rounds in an effort to get into the 64-meter range, which would likely secure him a spot on the team.
Prediction: Brian will eschew the reverse, hug the ground, and make the team.
Why is a former Swedish champion throwing in this meet?
That would be Niklas Arrhenhius, a fifteen-time former Swedish champion–five in the indoor shot, three in the outdoor shot, seven in the disc.
But he was born and raised in the United States, and has long contemplated the idea of competing at a US championships.
“Throwing,” he explained recently, “was always a Swedish thing for me because my dad competed for Sweden. I’m proud of my heritage, and was always glad to represent Sweden at the World and European Championships.”
But there was something about the Olympic Games that got him thinking stars and stripes.
“At the 2008 Olympics,” Nik recalls, “I remember seeing the Dream Team in the cafeteria at the Olympic Village and I thought, ‘I’m not that Swedish. I was born in America. Maybe I should represent the US?’”
If it were only that simple. Nik began seriously pursuing a change of allegiance in 2016, but then the IAAF froze all applications. He filed again in 2019, hoping to qualify for the 2020 US Trials, but found out that competing for Sweden in a dual meet versus Finland that August put the kibosh on the process for three years.
Now, he’s finally eligible, and on Thursday will make his US Championships debut at the age of 40.
His goal in the comp?
“I’d like to get a season’s best and qualify for the full six throws. With my athletes (Nik coaches at Brigham Young University) we talk about having a ‘fearless goal.’ There’s no point in going into a competition with a goal that makes you anxious, so just pick one that you know you can reach and build from there. For me, that’s getting a season’s best and earning six throws.”
Right now, Nik’s SB stands at 61.72m, the twentieth year in a row he has hit the 60-meter mark.
Does that make him old? Maybe. Determined? Certainly. Worth watching on Thursday at 3:30pm Pacific time? Absolutely.
Prediction: Nik goes 62 meters and celebrates with a nap.
Speaking of the Swedish guy, how is he at double-tasking?
As mentioned, Nik coaches at BYU. His best thrower is Dallin Shurts, who pulled off a shocker last year by taking second in this meet. Dallin, an extremely large and affable young man, is in the field again, and Nik is hoping they end up in the same flight.
“If they split up the field and he’s in the first flight and I’m in the second, I won’t be able to coach him because I’ll be in the holding area waiting to compete. If it’s the other way around, I’ll have to throw then run over to the coaches box. So, I’m hoping we end up together.”
Can Dallin, who has been hobbled by plantar fasciitis much of the season, make another run at the podium?
“I think he can,” says Nik. “I just want him to hit his cues, and if he does he can go 63-plus, which might be enough.”
However the comp goes for them on Thursday, Nik and Dallin plan to be back in the mix in 2024.
Nik’s first big senior-level meet was the 2006 European Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, the site of the 2024 World Masters Championships.
“It might be fun for me to have my first and last championships be in the same city,” he says.
Prediction: The big blonde will throw well and just miss the podium. Nik will still be proud of him.